David Beckham has sent his best wishes to Brazil’s injured World Cup star Neymar in a Facebook posting, which shows pictures of the pair of them over the years.

The 22-year-old Barcelona striker, who was Brazil’s stand-out player so far at the tournament, was ruled out of the rest of the competition after breaking a bone when he was kneed in the back during last Friday’s 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia.

There were reports he temporarily lost feeling in his legs following the challenge by Juan Zuniga, which went unpunished by the referee.

Neymar’s World Cup was ended by this challenge from Colombia’s Juan Zuniga (Picture: AP)

‘Very disappointed to no longer to see Neymar Jr playing at World Cup,’ wrote the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and England star.

‘Considering the pressure he has been under, he has been incredible. Get better soon and I know you will come back even stronger, força neymar.’

The posting was accompanied by three pictures – one of which is clearly fairly recently, the second taken when Beckham was playing for LA Galaxy and the third when Brazil’s current national hero looks no more than 12 years old.

In those days, Beckham was the mega-star whose injuries and fitness made headline news. So he will know exactly what Neymar is going through at the moment.